Reply #1: Colombia ordered to pay $7.8 million to families

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia ordered to pay $7.8 million to families
The Associated Press
Posted June 10 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia · Colombia must pay $7.8 million in damages to 99 relatives of 12 judicial investigators killed in a 1989 massacre by army-backed paramilitaries, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered.

The May 11 ruling made public by the victims' lawyers Friday is the largest yet against Colombia by the Costa Rica-based court, which investigates human rights violations when justice cannot be guaranteed in national courts. The judgment cannot be appealed.

"It's the first time that the state has been found guilty of collaborating in the murder of other agents of the state," Rafael Barrios, a lawyer for the victims, told The Associated Press.
(snip)

The 12 victims of the La Rochela massacre were killed while investigating another paramilitary massacre of 19 merchants in Santander state. Three judicial workers survived the massacre.


More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-hc...